“Sean Spicer, White House press secretary for President Donald Trump, told reporters on Thursday that the administration is pushing for a 20% border tax on Mexican imports. “When you look at the plan that’s taking shape now, using comprehensive tax reform as a means to tax imports from countries that we have a trade deficit from, like Mexico,” Spicer said, according to a White House pool report.”

This is the funniest one yet. And just goes to show the importance of understanding logic. Tariffs are ultimately paid for by the final consumer. A “border tax”, as Spicer put it (I imagine to make it sound like Mexicans handing over money at border crossings), translates to an increase in prices to the American public. That affects merchandise across the board. Consider that in the globalized world, your car, for example, might be put together in one country but it has parts from all over the world.

5,000 dead US troops, 250,000 mentally or physically handicapped. US ought to get the oil for $5 a barrel. Problem with US foreign policy is we make other countries rich with American “hero” blood. Actually they are mere cannon fodder for the capitalist system and not fighting for freedom.

-sigh- we knew the building was going to be bombed, but it’s still sad watching it crumble bit by bit.

Oddly enough, the one thing I do approve is the US withdrawal from the TPP. We here in Australia were more than a little worried about the TPP because we felt that US corporations were the only ones to really benefit. Now they won’t, and I’m very, very glad. Free trade is not free when the biggest bully in the school yard dictates the terms – take it or leave it.

You’re probably right about the corporations, but there are always collateral effects that benefit the people at the very bottom of the pyramid- meaning very low income consumers. A “poor” person 30 years ago had nowhere near the amount of options they have today, from food to clothing to furniture.

Mmm…I guess a lot of that will depend on your definition of ‘poor’. Here, the TPP would have made it much harder and more expensive for poor people to gain access to medicines, for example.
Bottom line, I do NOT want my government to hand over any sovereign rights to a multinational corporation just so we can sell wheat or some other commodity, to the US.

Megabanks and megacorps rule and have death grip on all allegedly sovereign nations. Even in US the right to vote has become a mere illusion of democracy and an illusion that the common man has some control of his own destiny.

You know, I never would have believed I’d become such an anti-corporation person. When I first read Kim Stanley Robinson’s sci-fi novels, I thought his plot device of making the corporations the ‘villains’ was interesting but much too unrealistic. There were laws against that sort of thing. How could they possibly get away with it? Hah. The man was waaaaay ahead of his time.

P.S. It was that under TPP corporations could litigate against anyone preventing them from taking profits that was utterly objectionable. So, if you prevented an oil company from building a pipeline because it polluted a river, then they can sue you for damaging their earnings potential regardless of the fact they would have been breaking environmental legislation had they gone ahead.

Of course they should be off the bloody table, but the corporate democrats were going to sneak TPP through with it in situ, which is another reason why they got what they deserved at the election and now need to reconstruct themselves with a progressive agenda. https://justicedemocrats.com

Exactly! Thanks for reminding me of that one. I really do believe we dodged a massive bullet on that one. I just hope that by the time DumpTy gets kicked out, we’ll have a smarter government /here/ as well.

Well I think US killed a million of them just like in Vietnam and most may not feel they got a good deal. For me I did not care if Saddam had WMD’s or not or that the suggestion was a lie for Bush to invade. Saddam ruled with terror over the people. One way was the use of RAPE ROOMS. Can anyone imagine the horror of such things ? For that reason alone I justify a regime change. If one no longer has to worry about rape rooms or a family member being “disappeared” I’d say Iraqis got a good deal. But another US inconsistency is our alleged war on drugs. Afghanistan produces 70% of world’s opium and heroin is cheaper and more available in US than ever since our presence. Hmmmm ?

I admit outright that it is hard to predict the future, but do you think the 1m + deaths, destruction of property, displacement of lives were worth the fight to kill one man for access to oil? Compared to the carnage following the US led invasion, has Iraq become better?

😀 He is such a lineal thinker, he doesn’t seem to have the ability to think around corners, it’s a straight line to what he wants and everyone will give in with enough bullying. Unfortunately for him politics is very different from business.

Now the news is reporting that his 20% means some essential items, like avocado (ha!), will be terribly affected and suddenly it is just an idea, not a policy. Has he not realised that a real leader doesn’t just say whatever pops into their head, they think it through and take advice. Oh, sorry, see point one again… 😀

I have to say, this worldwide resistance to him has entertained me greatly, so much so that I have opened a Twitter account just to make it easy to listen to the constant chatter! Such amusement… 🙂

@ PInky ‘But is he really? Or is it all just a game?’
I remember watching a video by Michael Moore in which he basically said that Trump was just playing but…that was fairly early in the campaign, back when no one really thought the Donald had a chance. Now, I think Metan is right. I think Trump is high on power and the sense that he’s unstoppable. As such, he’s blurting out things that do betray his core thinking. If you look at his business dealings, bullying his way through to success is his signature modus operandi. Sadly, he’s not as smart as he thinks he is, and that does not bode well for any of us. 😦

I don’t doubt that it is something of a game to him, his father bought him up with the attitude that the only possibilities are being the winner or being one of the losers, and being a winner was the only acceptable outcome. Right now he is probably shouting to those personal demons “Look, I’m the leader of the world!! I won everything!!”.

He seems to be so desperately insecure, as we’ve seen with his focus on ratings, popularity and crowd numbers etc, that I believe that now he has embarked on this track he won’t allow himself to lose face by taking a step back. The spectre looms of years of presidential decisions made on the fly purely to save face rather than benefit his country. As for being a lineal thinker, have we seen any evidence of tricky thinking?

Of course you could be right, it is possible we aren’t seeing what an evil genius he is and we’re all going to find out this buffoonery is part of the longest con in the world. (Really long. And so tricky. The trickiest. I have the best tricks ever. You won’t believe the tricks I have.)

I mentioned to the kids the other day (while we watched another of his staged signing events on the news) that Trump now seems to have his dream job, he sits at a desk and people clap when he signs something. It’s the same job as before, but with more admiring minions.

Loving the airport protests blowing up the internet today after his Muslim ban, and amazed that he is saying it is going well while protestors are filling the concourses. Wish I was a fly on the Oval Office wall, does he really think it’s going well, or is the voice in his head repeating “find a happy place, find a happy place…”

You’re right regarding the linear thinking- my point was more on his intentional deception/manipulation. His Crooked Hillary chant was nothing more than a chant. And a 90 day Muslim ban is nothing more than a stunt. What could happen in 90 days to “resolve” middle-eastern terrorism?

You might be giving him credit for more craftiness than he is capable of! I don’t think the Muslim ban is just a stunt, I doubt he would intentionally risk the chance of having to backtrack on something like an EO, it’s too obvious when he does, and that fragile ego isn’t up for public humiliation. He said he would do it during the election, and here he is, satisfying his fans.

No reason to think it isn’t a manipulation as well though, he still has to deal with China and Mexico, this is a none too subtle “look how hardline I am, you don’t want to mess with me” before they do. Really don’t think China will be intimidated though, not looking forward to the consequences of that one-upmanship.

The problem with reports like this is that they’re speculation until something official happens. This could be anything from testing out domestic reaction to serving as a hard-line position to begin negotiations on something. Yes, it’s ridiculous, and it’s also dangerous considering Mexico is supposed to be an ally. If our foreign policy will do this to friends, the U.S. won’t have friends.

The whole ‘Building a wall’ is total lunacy. The Mexicans don’t want it and won’t pay for it. Plenty of Americans don’t want it and yet may be made to pay for it. There will be a loss of trade from visitors from the Mexican side leading to job losses. So much for Trump’s promise to increase employment.
Hugs

It’s not even that simple. Watch Mexico let the illegals cross their southern border from South America and help them cross the border into the US.

Here’s the thing: I could have possibly gotten on board with a wall/fence. There is a point to be made that those crossing the border illegally are…well…doing it illegally, that they shouldn’t be allowed to circumvent the proper channels of legal entry to our country. Countries do have immigration policies for a reason. So it isn’t so much the idea of securing the border, it’s the means and rhetoric by which he’s chosen to do it. Belittling, insulting, and denigrating an entire society and/or ethnicity of people just isn’t it.

It already was working toward that end. That’s why people come here from Mexico; largely for work.

But hey, kill their economy and build a wall to keep them out. That sounds like a great plan. Suddenly I’m conjuring images of beggars at the palace gates being offered the crumbs from the king’s table.

Trump walked that back just as quickly as Spicer could get it out there. He seems to be doing the same thing in presidency that he did in his campaign; throw shit against the wall and see if it sticks. He tests the temperature of the waters with these “leaks” and then either forges full steam ahead or walks it back depending on whether he thinks it’ll pass based on the response. Similarly, instead of picking up a damn phone and calling a foreign leader or state governor or city mayor he tweets out some vague policy ideathreat and waits for the poor sap to come groveling to him. It’s all part of his negotiation strategy. He seems to think it gives him leverage. smdh…